Black women in the United States are less likely to survive breast cancer than white women, regardless of the stage at which the cancer is diagnosed, a study has found.

The biggest disparities were in women aged under 40 who were diagnosed as having stage one or unstaged disease. They were twice as likely to die as white women diagnosed at the same stage (Journal of Surgical Research 2008 Jun 23; doi: 10.1016/j.jss.2008.05.020).

Black women were less likely to have had surgical excision of their breast cancer and less likely to have radiation therapy.

“A better understanding of the patient, physician, tumour, and treatment factors contributing to the …